Instep-arch support



w. M. scHoLL. l INSTEP ARCH SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9| i917.

1,359, 1 1 3. Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

T OFFICE.

WILLIAM M. SCIIOLL, OFVCHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

INSTEP-ARCH SUPPORT.

Application led June 9,

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known thatv I, IVILLIAM M. SGHOLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Instep-Arch Supports, of which the following is a specifr cation.

My invention relates to instep arch supports and has for its object to improve the structure of arch supports in their comfort giving qualities and foot-corrective facilities.

Arch supports as usually constituted comprise an arched resistant element, commonly of metal or other hard substance, and a cover piece of leather that functions both to aid in giving proper location in the shoe t'o the arched element and to add to the wearers comfort, and my present linvention may comprise such parts.

In the simple form shown in the drawings,

, (wherein Figure 1 is an inverted plan view and Figs. 2 and 3 are longitudinal and transverse sections on lines 1-1 and 2 2) 10 is a metallic arch plate and 11 a leather cover piece secured thereto as by rivets at 12,-12. The cover piece, that at its front end 13 is skived to lie smoothly on the shoe sole adjacent the ball of the wearers foot, has its rear end 14: out in plan on a curved line to interfit snugly with the inside of the heel# receiving portion, of the shoe, and the arch supporting element 10, appropriately arched longitudinally and transversely to support the shank of the foot is located with its rear end 10a in front of that portion of the cover piece which will be overlain by the undersurface of the wearers heel. The leather cover piece is of material thickness, and its underside, in rear of the arch-plate 10, is cut away concavely in a recess 16, leaving the leather very thin but preferably imperforate, as a mere skim at a central point 17 and thickening toward the edges of the recess. The smooth or finished side of the leather is turned upwardly, so that to the wearers foot a smooth, unbroken surface is presented. In manufacture the concave may be left underneath, but as soon as the users weight is put upon the article the thinnedpart of the heel-receiving leather is pressed down as shown in dotted lines in Fig. '2; or the leather may be pressed into this top-concaved form, as dottedly shown, in manufacture. In either event the article presents, in

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

i917. serial No. 173,714.

substance, a top-concave, and this is very desiiable both in promoting the wearers comfort by affording a smoothly hollowed heel seat and in aiding in the corrective effectiveness of the appliance by insuring that the article will not shift with respect to the wearers foot. The rear edge 10a of the metal plate may be tapered oif thin for snug fit with the shoe-inside, but I find that a slight shoulder of metal at the point indicated, in front of the heel-center is not uncomfortable and aids in giving the foot iirm and accurate positioning in the shoe.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In an arch support the combination of an arch-supporting element adapted to underlie the shank portion of the Wearers foot and terminating at its rear end in appropriate position to lie in front of the wearers heel, and a flexible leather cover overlying and connected with said supporting element, said cover member extending rearwardly beyond the shanlcsupporting element and shaped approximately to substantially conform to the interior of a heel portion of a shoe, said cover member having a portion thinned to form a concave socket lying' in the rear of and relatively close to the rear end of the shank-supporting element in position to be directly below the wearer-s heel.

2. In an arch support the combination of an archesupporting element adapted to underlie the shank portion of the wearers foot and terminating at its rear end in appropriate position to lie in front of the wearers heel, and a flexible leather cover overlying and connected with said supporting element, said cover member extending rearwardly beyond the shank-supporting element and shaped approximately to substantially conform to the interior of a heel portion of a shoe, said cover member having a smooth-finished top surface and a bottom surface concavely thinned in socket-outline in its portion extended beyond the shank-supporting element, whereby when the weight ofthe wearer presses the underside of the extended portion into Contact with the shoe the smooth top-surface will take concaved, heelsocket form, substantially as described.

h In1 testimony whereof I hereunto set my WILLIAM M. SCHOLL. 

